Group of US Lawmakers Place Blame for January 6 Capitol Attack on Trump
2022-06-11
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1The panel of lawmakers looking into the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, said former President Donald Trump is to blame for,what they called, an "attempted coup."
2The panel is made up of mostly Democratic lawmakers from the House of Representatives along with two Republicans.
3The lawmakers said that Trump supporters were following the president's suggestion to take over the U.S. Capitol.
4At the time, Congress was meeting to confirm President Joe Biden's victory in the November 2020 presidential election.
5The committee held a special hearing on Thursday night.
6The goal was to show Americans new video of extremist groups leading the attack, hitting police officers with bats and poles.
7The video also showed Trump's close advisers saying they did not believe the election was stolen.
8The hearing was shown by most American television news networks.
9Caroline Edwards is a Capitol police officer who was there trying to stop the attackers on January 6.
10She said she saw her coworkers hit in the face and covered in blood.
11She said the floors were slippery from blood and compared it to a war movie.
12"It was carnage. It was chaos," she said.
13Over 100 police officers were hurt.
14One person, a woman, was shot and killed by police.
15In all, four people who were in the crowd at the Capitol that day died.
16At least five law enforcement officers later died, most reportedly by suicide.
17Representative Bennie Thompson is a Democrat from Mississippi and leader of the panel.
18He said: "Democracy remains in danger," and said Trump and some U.S. lawmakers are choosing to remember the attack, as "patriotism."
19He compared this to justifying slavery and other violence against Black Americans.
20Other supporters of Trump, including his daughter Ivanka Trump, her husband Jared Kushner, and former top government lawyer Bill Barr were shown in videos.
21They said that the idea of a stolen election was false.
22Kushner called it "whining," Barr denied it and Ivanka Trump said she accepted Barr's opinion about the election.
23Another part of the video showed leaders of extremist groups called the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys saying they attacked the Capitol because Trump asked them to.
24Liz Cheney is the daughter of former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney and a Republican representative from Wyoming.
25She is one of the panel's leaders.
26"President Trump summoned a violent mob," she said,
27adding that Trump did not work to "preserve our union-or worse, cause(d) a constitutional crisis..."
28Trump is still considering running for President in 2024.
29He recently said the actions of his supporters on January 6 "represented the greatest movement in the history of our country."
30Other Republican lawmakers used Twitter to say: "All. Old. News."
31The Republican Party leader in the House of Representatives is Kevin McCarthy of California.
32He refused to give a statement to the panel. He has called the group "a scam."
33In coming weeks, the panel is expected to show more about Trump's false campaign to "Stop the Steal," the term he used to say the election results were untrue.
34The members aim to show the work Trump and his lawyers did to push the U.S. Department of Justice to dispute the election.
35The Justice Department so far has arrested and charged more than 800 people for attacking the U.S. Capitol on January 6.
36Many lawmakers who were there that day were also in the room on Thursday night watching the panel.
37"We want to remind people, we were there, we saw what happened," said Dean Phillips, a Democrat from Minnesota.
38"We know how close we came to the first non-peaceful transition of power in this country," he said.
39I'm Dan Friedell.
1The panel of lawmakers looking into the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, said former President Donald Trump is to blame for, what they called, an "attempted coup." 2The panel is made up of mostly Democratic lawmakers from the House of Representatives along with two Republicans. 3The lawmakers said that Trump supporters were following the president's suggestion to take over the U.S. Capitol. At the time, Congress was meeting to confirm President Joe Biden's victory in the November 2020 presidential election. 4The committee held a special hearing on Thursday night. The goal was to show Americans new video of extremist groups leading the attack, hitting police officers with bats and poles. The video also showed Trump's close advisers saying they did not believe the election was stolen. 5The hearing was shown by most American television news networks. 6Caroline Edwards is a Capitol police officer who was there trying to stop the attackers on January 6. She said she saw her coworkers hit in the face and covered in blood. She said the floors were slippery from blood and compared it to a war movie. 7"It was carnage. It was chaos," she said. 8Over 100 police officers were hurt. One person, a woman, was shot and killed by police. In all, four people who were in the crowd at the Capitol that day died. At least five law enforcement officers later died, most reportedly by suicide. 9Representative Bennie Thompson is a Democrat from Mississippi and leader of the panel. 10He said: "Democracy remains in danger," and said Trump and some U.S. lawmakers are choosing to remember the attack, as "patriotism." He compared this to justifying slavery and other violence against Black Americans. 11Other supporters of Trump, including his daughter Ivanka Trump, her husband Jared Kushner, and former top government lawyer Bill Barr were shown in videos. They said that the idea of a stolen election was false. 12Kushner called it "whining," Barr denied it and Ivanka Trump said she accepted Barr's opinion about the election. 13Another part of the video showed leaders of extremist groups called the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys saying they attacked the Capitol because Trump asked them to. 14Liz Cheney is the daughter of former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney and a Republican representative from Wyoming. She is one of the panel's leaders. 15"President Trump summoned a violent mob," she said, adding that Trump did not work to "preserve our union-or worse, cause(d) a constitutional crisis..." 16Trump is still considering running for President in 2024. He recently said the actions of his supporters on January 6 "represented the greatest movement in the history of our country." 17Other Republican lawmakers used Twitter to say: "All. Old. News." 18The Republican Party leader in the House of Representatives is Kevin McCarthy of California. He refused to give a statement to the panel. He has called the group "a scam." 19In coming weeks, the panel is expected to show more about Trump's false campaign to "Stop the Steal," the term he used to say the election results were untrue. The members aim to show the work Trump and his lawyers did to push the U.S. Department of Justice to dispute the election. 20The Justice Department so far has arrested and charged more than 800 people for attacking the U.S. Capitol on January 6. 21Many lawmakers who were there that day were also in the room on Thursday night watching the panel. 22"We want to remind people, we were there, we saw what happened," said Dean Phillips, a Democrat from Minnesota. "We know how close we came to the first non-peaceful transition of power in this country," he said. 23I'm Dan Friedell. 24Dan Friedell adapted this story for VOA Learning English based on reporting by The Associated Press. 25Write to us in the Comments Section and visit our Facebook page. 26Words in This Story 27coup- n. a sudden attempt by a small group of people to take over the government usually through violence 28panel - n. a group of people who answer questions, give advice or opinions about something, or take part in a discussion for an audience 29carnage - adj. the killing of many people 30chaos- adj. complete confusion and disorder 31whine -v. to complain in a way that bothers 32summon- v. to order or call for people to appear at a place 33scam- n. a dishonest way to make money by deceiving people 34transition -n. to act of changing from one state or condition to another